As far as I can see there is no LEGO confidential stamp on the Chima, only one of the source website bionifigs.com which is a dreadful looking French forum. I can't find the original article that references the image, though.

As far as I can see there is no LEGO confidential stamp on the Chima, only one of the source website bionifigs.com which is a dreadful looking French forum. I can't find the original article that references the image, though.

I will post on the home page...

This is the original news story, and the image was taken down at the LEGO Group's request, so probably not a good idea to post that as news. It's true that it has no "confidential" watermark, but the person who sent it in to Bionifigs.com didn't list their source so it could have been some unreleased catalog or other material that "escaped" from TLG's close watch just as so many unreleased figs end up sneaking out of the factory in Mexico.

"...two new LEGO sets suggest that Tony Stark will have to add ‘good swimmer’ to that genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist tag. The first sees Guy Pearce’s slick nano-tech whizz Aldrich Killian trying to shake off Iron Man and War Machine in a Miami Vice-looking powerboat. That set is called ‘Extremis Sea Port Battle’, a clue as to the importance of Killian’s Extremis virus to both Stark and the Mandarin. There’s also a strange, powered buoy marked ‘JC82’ that we can’t shine much light on.

The other kit, ‘Ultimate Showdown’, involves the Mandarin tackling Iron Man in a missile-bristling buggy. Judging by the box, it’ll be set against a backdrop of shipping containers reminiscent of Batman Begins’ dockland scrap. A third kit that we didn’t see, ‘Malibu Mansion Attack’, featured a “pale green figure” that Brick Fanatics say they weren’t allowed to know the name of..."

"‘Black Zero Escape’ ... features only Zod, Lois and Superman figures ... Man Of Steel will be a much more heavily weaponised affair than previous movie Supes, with Zod packing some heavy calibres and his own personal army. So what does the Black Zero kit reveal? Well, Lois Lane in a space pod, Supes in the air, and Zod behind some kind of complex control device. A different LEGO kit has Zod in body armour".

^If I'm honest, I've found most of the current games lacking. And in some cases the rules/instructions have just been downright confusing. The microfigs are cute, but if I was buying a child something I'd rather go for a set that has much more replay value. I think a lot of my game purchases are destined to be parted out.

^If I'm honest, I've found most of the current games lacking. And in some cases the rules/instructions have just been downright confusing. The microfigs are cute, but if I was buying a child something I'd rather go for a set that has much more replay value. I think a lot of my game purchases are destined to be parted out.

Someone should tell lego not to bother making any gameplay at all - just put cool pieces in them. Aren't all their games just parts packs? We played Minotaurus, Monster4, SW, frog one all just once. I'm not going to say they are bad, just that there are way better games to play.

Also Minotaurus is not so bad due to the size, but the mini ones are a pain to sit around as they are so tiny. It's like playing travel scrabble on a large table. Only you could never travel with them as you'd lose the bits.

I'm excited for the figures/parts, but not so much the castle. Looks like every other castle set that has been before.

If it is all panels (and it looks like it is) forming those walls, I'm out.

Since I first saw this castle, I've been a big fan of it. I agree some parts (the towers on the front left and back right) are lacking in detail, but overall it seems like the choice to use more panels allows for a much more substantial-looking design than many past castles.

The gatehouse feels very formidable with those wide towers supporting it-- I can't find any other full castle sets that have a gatehouse this sturdy-looking (well, perhaps 7094, but it does that by turning the towers on either of the front corners into part of the gatehouse, and it lacks a gatehouse keep on top).

Also note the throne room, which while still rudimentary is enclosed on THREE sides-- compare that to 7946, which was open on three sides, or 7094, open on ALL sides. Some of the other towers and the gatehouse keep are all similarly well-enclosed, and we have no idea what sorts of treasures those might be hiding on the interior.

Overall, I think the panel-based walls, which to me have a comfortable sort of regularity, are an acceptable sacrifice for a castle that manages to stand out as unique compared to other LEGO castle designs of the past decade.

Maybe it's just me, but that castle seems like step-down in overall "coolness" from the Joust.

Yep. It's a generic kids play set. I was hoping that Lego would utilize some of the building techniques from LotR (curved walls, smaller pieces) but instead they just recylcled previous castles. Not very impressive and rather lazy.

^^I think the whole point of this Castle series is to aim younger than the LotR/Hobbit sets and appeal to 6 and 7 year olds more than any of us here. Agree it isn't impressive to our eyes but to a kid who hasn't seen every castle Lego has designed since the '80s and wants a new toy to play with it will be highly desirable.

My first impression on the Castle sets is that I like the Gatehouse Raid and the Gold Getaway. King's Castle is okay, but it uses way too many panels for my taste. Gatehouse Raid has connection points on the end, so it appears there is at least some connectable modularity to this theme.

In general, I don't like the heavy-handed good vs. bad. As a parent, I'd much rather see clearly differentiated but neutral factions, which can then be whatever one imagines. But I realize LEGO has done market research and the clear-cut good vs. bad apparently appeals to many kids.

Some of the 2013 sets are cool actually the cargo plane and some others, like the next creator house, at least I think that is what it was.

But getting a bit let down by the CMF's first it was move from 3 each of the 'rares' to 2 each of the 'rares' per box, now it is a chase fig that is only going to cause people to rip open the packages more if they are not sitting next to a counter...

^If I'm honest, I've found most of the current games lacking. And in some cases the rules/instructions have just been downright confusing. The microfigs are cute, but if I was buying a child something I'd rather go for a set that has much more replay value. I think a lot of my game purchases are destined to be parted out.

I think that's why a lot of people like the board games so much. They are really cool to get on sale and use as parts. The Frog rush game i got for my B-day last year is waiting to be used and the 2 magikus sets i got on sale are together in a small container waiting to be used at some point.

I have to say overall the pricing for '13 is not too bad. Apparently, judging by the prices shown in the photos, that LEGO finally realized that the prices for the calendars were WAY too high (although they still are high for the '13 calendars).